Just Like Music
by punkydiva17
Summary: *Story completed* Torrie Wilson's musically enhanced cousin comes to spend a summer on Raw. What happens when she starts to catch the eye of Torrie's fellow Superstars? Read and Review
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

He heard the guitar. It was electric, with a beautiful sound resonating down the hallways of the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. John Cena had to admit, he was fascinated as to what was causing that sound. Especially since knowing that their music man Jim was back in Stamford. And with himself as a musician – or a rapper, in the opinion of some people, it wasn't music – he was always looking to explore a new sound. And from the sounds of things, a rock fusion actually sounded pretty good.

He approached the locker room and pushed the door open slightly. She was a young girl, couldn't have been more than twenty-three, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, her mousy brown hair in a low ponytail. She looked up when she saw him and her mouth formed a small "oh" as she turned down the amplifier, which was already kind of quiet.

"Don't turn it down," he replied, sitting down in front of her. "It sounds nice."

She blushed slightly, her cheeks taking on a pinkish tinge. "Um, thank you," she replied.

"John Cena," he replied, extending his hand. She took it.

"Marianne."

"That's quite a guitar," he told her. It was a shining red electric. "How long you been playing for?"

"Since I was about twelve," she answered. "I just picked up an acoustic one day, and I just played."

"So, what brings you here?" he asked. "I don't think you're a Diva..."

"Marianne, there you are!"

He looked up to see Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle and Victoria standing around him. He groaned; those three always spelled trouble. He had learned that upon his arrival to Raw two years before. He couldn't believe the three were still hanging out. He looked at Marianne. Maybe she spelled trouble, too.

"Marianne, I guess you've met our resident champion," Torrie replied. "John, this is my cousin, Marianne."

"We've met," he replied, getting to his feet. He didn't like being around those three any more than he had to. "I'll talk to you later. Love to hear you play some more."

"Thanks. Good luck out there tonight." He nodded and disappeared.

"Come on, Marianne, we have more people to introduce you to," Torrie replied. Marianne was still having a hell of a time believing how much Torrie changed when she got around the other two. "And if you're going to be spending the summer with me, then you may as well start learning the names."

She nodded and stood to her feet, leaning her guitar up against the wall. She didn't want to leave her music. This place weirded her out too much. Already she had been approached by some fat man in face paint and a Cuban in a really bad suit. But she had promised Torrie to come out and spend the summer with her. Life was going a little rough for Torrie, and she wanted her favorite cousin to be around to spend the summer with her before Marianne went back to college. She was majoring in music, her lifelong passion, and she thought a two month break with Torrie might be able to do her some good.

She followed the Devils out of the locker room.

A lot of people didn't really see any family resemblance between Torrie and Marianne, and Marianne wondered if Torrie was a little annoyed in her choice of regular attire. But if she was, Torrie didn't show it. It was Candice and Victoria moreso.

A lot of the good guys, the ones she really wanted to talk to, like Shawn Michaels, Carlito, and Maria didn't want to stay and talk with the trio, and so Marianne didn't get to talk to them as much as she would have liked. She could sense the fear resonating off of Maria, considering Maria had been attacked by the trio several times.

But other guys, like Randy Orton, Edge, Lita and Chris Masters wanted to talk, just not to Marianne. Of course, when one is in a hoodie and jeans and the girls around her are falling out...yeah, she knew it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which girl a guy like Randy Orton would talk to.

Throughout the walk around the arena, Marianne's mind kept floating back to John Cena. He actually seemed interested in her music, and for some reason, she really liked that. But she decided to push it aside. Where in the hell was she going to find time to talk to Cena with these three figuratively handcuffed to her all summer? She groaned, low enough for nobody to hear her. A summer with Candice Michelle, Victoria and Torrie Wilson?

It was going to be a long summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Marianne couldn't wait to get out of the arena when Raw ended on Monday night. Things had just gotten too weird for her. It wasn't bad enough she got accosted by a duo that Torrie had informed her were named Umaga and Armando; she was also yelled at by D-Generation X for almost destroying their elaborate prank setup for the McMahon men, and she was almost spat on by Carlito, because, according to the Puerto Rican Superstar, she "wasn't cool."

Torrie slid the keycard into the door and together they entered their hotel room, Marianne dropping her guitar up against the wall as she slid her shoes off. Torrie was way ahead of her, of course, her shoes already off as she flopped down on her bed. Marianne took the other bed and produced her duffel bag from underneath. She could sense Torrie's eyes on her as she rummaged through her duffel bag for her pajamas. "What?" she asked without looking at her cousin.

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that, Torrie Wilson. I know you, we're family, remember?" That prompted laughter from Torrie, laughter that she was unsure was even possible. "Now, what is it?"

"I was just wondering what John Cena wanted earlier with you..." Torrie trailed off as Marianne threw a T-shirt at her cousin.

"It was nothing. He came in while I was playing, and he asked me a couple questions about my playing. Nothing more, nothing less." She smiled. "Of course, he was all for booking it out of there once you, Candice and Victoria showed up."

"Yeah, he doesn't really care for Victoria and Candice all that much," Torrie replied. "But, as you'll soon find out, not a lot of them really care for Candice in the least." They both laughed. Life had been going so rough for Torrie, with her new house, being single all of a sudden, and having to deal with the everyday catty Diva rivalries that took place behind the cameras on Raw.

They fell silent. And it wasn't that good kind of silence. It was awkward, and it was painful. Torrie stared into her duffel bag, her eyes no doubt on something that reminded her of a life she was losing. "Want to talk about it?" Marianne inquired. Torrie's eyes snapped up to her cousin as she pulled a pink nightgown out of her bag.

"No," Torrie replied with a sad smile crossing her face. "Everything is fine," she replied. "Now, I'll order for room service and we'll have ourselves a good old fashioned girl's night. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan," Marianne replied. She gathered her pajamas and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower and get changed into her pajamas. When she emerged, Torrie was already changed into her pajamas, with dinner before them and the TV on. Marianne crawled under the blankets in her bed and Torrie did the same in her bed.

"I have to ask, Torrie, is there anybody I should watch out for while I'm here?"

"Melina," Torrie informed her. "Melina's really catty. She's one of those girls that you just can't trust. Don't forget that. Oh, and Randy Orton."

"You mean the guy with the smirk?"

"Yeah, him," Torrie replied. "He has a pretty bad reputation with the girls here. Just watch yourself. Otherwise, everybody's pretty good. By the way, Shawn wanted me to apologize for their behavior tonight. They had spent a few hours trying to fix up that prank, and you scared the hell out of them, that's all. They would love for you to hang out with them next week."

"Me? Hang out with D-Generation X?" Marianne almost laughed at the idea. "Yeah, because I look like I'd totally fit in with them."

"Well, you ever considered not dressing so...tomboyish?" Torrie inquired. Marianne shook her head.

"Beats the hell out of being a dummy like Candice."

"You can look good and still be smart," Torrie replied indignantly. "I'm living proof."

Marianne replied. "If I were to undergo anything, it wouldn't be at the hands where an assistant would be Candice Michelle."

"You really don't like her, do you?"

"Well, something can be said for her immeasurable talent of, 'I can do this...'" she pantomimed Candice's trademark arm swirl and the girls collapsed against their pillows, laughing, munching on dinner, watching CSI. "Aren't you happy to have talent, Torrie?" Marianne asked. Torrie laughed.

"Yes, I am," she answered. They sat around the entire night, talking about Marianne's classes, John Cena's music, the company in general, until finally it was almost three in the morning. Torrie shut off the TV and the duo got comfortable. It was going to be a long flight back to Los Angeles in the morning and so they needed to get all the rest that they could.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Jesus, Torrie, you have too much stuff!"

The two girls stood in the middle of Torrie's living room. The furniture movers had already placed the furniture where it needed to be and now they stood amongst a sea of boxes. Torrie was smiling, dressed in a pink T-shirt and blue denim shorts, with her bleached blonde hair in a high, sloppy ponytail, while Marianne was in her trademark jeans, hoodie and sneakers, her hair in the same style as her cousins.

"Oh, shut up and help me unpack," Torrie laughed. The duo took the first box of kitchen stuff into the kitchen and began to unpack. Marianne was thankful to see Torrie in such a good mood. She had been worried that the entire summer would be miserable as Torrie tried to piece together her life all over again. But Torrie was still a young woman of thirty. No children, a wonderful career. Things were still good for her.

They unpacked the dishes and set them on the counter to be washed. "Did you see the way Carlito was eying Beth this week?"

"Beth's married, isn't she?"

"Didn't stop Edge, did it?" They laughed and continued to do their unpacking. After a while, Torrie stopped and Marianne could sense her cousin's eyes on her.

"What, Torrie?"

"I was just thinking. You know, you would look lovely with some streaks in your hair..."

"Forget it."

"Oh, come on. You have to live a little this summer. You're going to be traveling with Divas. We got to let some of that rub off on you."

"Over...my...dead...body," she replied.

"We'll make you look hot for Cena."

"Shut up!" she laughed. Torrie laughed, too. "God, he talked to me once about playing guitar!"

"You'll have to forgive him," Torrie replied, "he's got no game with the ladies." They laughed. "You should really watch 'Five Questions With the Champ'. He bitches about that all the time."

"Didn't you have something with him?" Marianne inquired.

"Yeah, right. I've been with..." She decided not to mention his name for the sake of keeping her new home happy. Marianne just nodded in understanding and hooked up the little stereo player. "Me and U" by Cassie filled the room and Marianne's face scrunched up.

"What's the...oh, I forgot, you're the rocker," Torrie replied dryly. "I don't understand why you hate this music so much. It's still music."

"Done by fake musicians," she replied. Torrie left it at that. Marianne had a lot of talent, and in most cases her thought process was right on the money. The talent may be there, but the musical ability in some cases aren't.

"So, did you listen to John's album?" Torrie inquired.

"Yeah." She had listened to it falling asleep on the flight back.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What did you think of the album?"

"John's really good," she admitted. "He and his cousin seem to know what they're doing, and I think it's cool that they can write, compose and record their own stuff."

"You know what would be cool?"

"What's that, Torrie?"

"If you and Cena actually did a duet together. How cool would that be?"

"Um, how about no?"

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, rap and rock don't mix, and two, if I were to do anything with John Cena, you, Victoria and Candice wouldn't shut up about it all summer."

"Oh, come on. We'll turn you into a punk rapper yet," Torrie replied. Marianne groaned at the thought and continued to do dishes. That's when Torrie reached her decision.

If it killed her or not, this summer, Marianne Wilson was going to do some work with John Cena.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"All right, so where we gonna move this thing?"

John was sitting with his cousin, the underground rapper known as "Tha Trademarc" and Djs Chaos and Order, trying to discuss where they going to go direction wise with the next album. "You Can't See Me" sold really well, and now it only seemed natural for him to put out a follow-up album.

"I think that we keep the message. Not fall into the majority talking about strippers and money."

"Oh, come on, that's been a staple in rap forever," Trademarc protested. That prompted laughter from the Champion.

"And a minimum on the wrestling references. Last thing we need is to lose any legitimacy on this album after we worked so hard to maintain it on the other album." They all nodded.

"Well, where we gonna spin it with the beats?" Chaos asked.

"Why don't we rock it out?" Cena asked. They stared at him oddly. "Come on, rock and rap is a fusion that's been working forever. Why don't we give it a try. We kind of went there with 'Beantown' and 'Keep Frontin'." They nodded; he had a point. "Anyway, we can pull up some good riffs from rock."

"You look like you've already got an idea forming there, Cena," replied Order. He smirked.

"I might," he replied, his thoughts trailing back to Marianne with her guitar. "I might."

The Fleet Center in Boston was filling up quickly when Torrie and Marianne arrived. Leaving Marianne in the Divas locker room, the other Divas went to go and meet up with one of the producers before the show. She was sure it was Dean Malenko, she thought she had heard Torrie say. She pulled out her electric guitar and small amp and hooked her headphones into the amp so that nobody could hear her playing and she began to work on a new song she had composed a few days before. It was heavy with a lot of power chords and a great deal of solo work. She found herself lost in the music quickly as she just watched her fingers move swiftly over the frets, bending, sliding and moving along the strings.

"How on Earth do you get your fingers to move so damn fast?"

Startled, she looked up into the blue eyes of John Cena, who took a seat across from her. She had to admit; he was cute. She slid her headphones off of her ears so they rested around her neck. "I've been looking for you all night. I wanted to ask about your material. What kind of music do you play?"

"I don't play hip-hop," she replied, keeping her eyes down to the string. She was nervous to make eye contact with him. His eyes were just gorgeous.

"That's terrific," he replied. She looked up at him, surprised. "I was talking to my boys, and we want to go with a new direction for this new album. I would love it if you would come into Basscamp Studios for a few days and lay down a couple backbeats for us. Would you be cool with that?"

She was floored. "I don't know," she replied, "I don't think I'm ready for that..."

"Are you kidding? You are amazing," he replied. "Come on, what would it take for you to put out some hits for us?"

"Mr. Cena..."

"John."

"John." She took a deep breath. "I don't know if I could ever record any of this stuff..."

"Come on," he was almost pleading. "We would welcome the new sound on the album." Then he planted himself firmly on the ground and focused his gaze on her.

"What on Earth are you doing?" she laughed.

"I'm not moving until you say yes."

"You and DX have that match tonight," she replied. "There's no way that you can stay here all night." He knew she was right, and she probably would call his bluff, but he stayed sitting.

"I'm not moving. If I have to talk to Torrie, you have to...Come on..."

She was laughing now. "I'm sorry. I couldn't. I have school at the end of the summer. I can't keep coming out here and going out there..."

"That's why you lay it down now. And then when the album comes out, on days that we can get you away, we can send you on the promotions with us." That thought frightened her. The idea of being known as the one who laid down the tracks for John Cena's newest album. Especially because he had such a following with the fans.

"John..."

"Come on. Say yes."

"If I say yes, would you leave me alone?"

"Well, until recording time, yeah."

"I'll think about it."

"You got till next Monday, okay?"

"Okay, John. Next Monday." He gave her a heart-melting smile and left, leaving her to put her head in her hands and laugh. She couldn't do this. There was no way that she could do this.

Torrie returned with Triple H and Shawn Michaels. "Guys, I don't think you really got off on the right foot with my cousin here last week, so Marianne, this is Hunter and Shawn." They leaned down and shook her hand and she proclaimed herself a D-Generation X fan.

"Can we hear what you're working on?" Shawn inquired. He had a real paternal vibe, Marianne thought. It was no wonder he was one of the more popular guys there.

"Sure," she replied, unplugging her headset from the amplifier. She began to play what she had played two weeks ago, when John Cena had walked in on her the first time. Triple H looked slightly impressed and Shawn shot a look at Torrie.

"How could you keep a gem like this a secret?" Shawn asked. Torrie smiled as she saw Marianne blush slightly.

"She looks a little tomboy-ish, though," Hunter replied, which made her eyes snap up to him, slightly irritated. "We could do something with that, and maybe we could use her for a segment with the McMahons." Marianne shot a look at her cousin. She was only here for a summer, and suddenly they wanted to use her, and Cena wanted her to do music...she couldn't help but feel panicked. She kept her head down and continued to strum and pick at her guitar as Torrie informed them that it could be a possibility. They had to go. Interview, she heard Shawn tell her cousin. They left and Torrie turned to her cousin and crouched down in front of her.

"Little nervous, are we?" Torrie asked. Marianne nodded.

"Cena asked me to do a guest spot on his album," she blurted. Torrie's eyes widened.

"That's awesome, Marianne," Torrie replied. "When do you start?"

"I told him I'd think about it. Torrie, I can't do that!"

"Oh, come on, Marianne, this would be a wonderful opportunity for you. You could get experience in recording and composing, and you get to work with some legitimate musicians. Come on, Marianne, don't tell me you're too shy to pass something so huge up."

She looked at her cousin. As usual, Torrie was right. "I just don't think I can do it, Torrie."

"Well, you just spend the next week thinking about it, and on Monday, just go tell Cena what you plan on doing."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Torrie and John had a tag team match later on against Edge and Lita. It was a retribution thing for earlier in the night. Torrie and Lita had mixed it up and Edge and John had gone at it. It was a pretty good segment, with Torrie showing some good mic skills. But what was more important to John than any segment was the idea that maybe Marianne would give him the big decision tonight.

He was hoping she would say yes. He wanted her to do some backing vocals too. See if this girl was the total package. If she was related to Torrie, he had no doubt about it.

He got backstage with Torrie and she went to go get ready for the match. Marianne was off with Mickie James. Torrie figured if Marianne would be there for a few months then she might as well want to make friends.

"Your cousin around?" he asked.

"Don't worry," Torrie assured him. "She knows where your locker room is. She'll come to you when she's ready." He nodded and left to go get ready on his end, while she trudged her way into the locker room.

"You should get some layers in your hair. It'd look fantastic."

"I don't know..."

"You shouldn't look so modest. You're a pretty girl..."

They heard snickering and turned to see Candice Michelle leaned against the doorframe, dressed in a black corset and black shorts, her hair piled atop her head elegantly. Mickie and Marianne exchanged glances with one another, wordlessly symbolizing their dislike for the Diva Search reject. "Unless there's a mirror Candice is looking into, I can't see any explanation for why she's laughing," Mickie replied, prompting laughter from Marianne.

Candice stared at Marianne, ignoring Mickie. "You think you're making waves here, that you're something big. Let me tell you something, Marianne: next to me, you, your cousin, all of you, are nowhere in my league."

"What's that, the League of Extraordinary Sluts?" inquired Mickie. Marianne just snickered.

"I am the next women's champion," replied Candice, which prompted immense laughter from the two girls. "I am, just you see!" Candice stormed away.

"What a bitch," Mickie murmured.

"I'd be a bitch too if I was born looking like my face got caught in a car compacter," Marianne replied. Mickie laughed.

"You'll be all right here," Mickie replied. "You sure have a wit." They slapped hands. "So, Torrie was saying that Cena asked you to do something on his album."

"Yeah."

"You should go for it."

"You think so?"

"Hell yeah, it would be some good exposure. You could become the hip-hop rocker..." Marianne groaned and Mickie laughed.

"Go with it. It'll be a great experience for you. How many people can say that they spent their summer recording an album while on tour with WWE?" Marianne laughed. She had to admit; Mickie was right. Not a lot of people could say that they did all these wonderful things – things of a lifetime, over the course of a summer.

"I have to go," Marianne replied. "I'll talk to you later."

She was having doubts as she made her way down the hall. She knocked on the locker room door of the WWE Champion. "Yeah?" he shouted out and she pushed the door open. He was in a Chain Gang Assault Battalion T-shirt and his trademark jeans; he was working on his wristbands. He looked at her. "Marianne! I've been waiting for you. What's up?"

"John, I don't know if I can do this..."

He smirked. "Trust me, when I got started in the hip-hop thing, I was just as nervous as you were."

"Really?"

"Me? Nervous? Ha," he replied and that made her chuckle. "Seriously, every performer feels some modicum of nervousness. You just shake it off. Anyway, you're a musician, you need to get ready for these sort of things."

She nodded. "So did you think about it this week?" he asked. She nodded again. "And?"

"I say you're on."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

Marianne was sitting in the lobby of the salon, watching her cousin read the latest issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. She was incredibly nervous. John had told her to meet him at Basscamp Studios in Boston on Wednesday. It was Tuesday. Torrie had somehow talked her into going into the salon to make herself not look so...anti-Diva-ish, as Torrie had put it.

Marianne was directed to the chair and she was seated. A young woman named Nancy was going to look after her beauty needs today. Torrie stood beside the young hairdresser, explaining what she thought would look good on her cousin.

First they messed around with her hair. They cut off about four inches of it and dyed it a chestnut brown with streaks of blonde. She was surprised at how much more vibrant her complexion appeared without the shade of her lackluster hair.

They styled it and spiked it out to maintain a punky, yet urban look. She loved how it looked and Torrie could sense it, but decided not to gloat about it.

Next, they did her makeup and they gave her some tips about how to apply it. She listened half-heartedly; after all, this was more Torrie's thing and she had no doubt that Torrie would be wide awake to see her off to her trip to the studio the following morning. Torrie paid for the entire session and they left so that Torrie could go out and "spice up Marianne's wardrobe".

"Come on, Torrie," Marianne protested. "I'm going to lay down some drum tracks, not going to seduce the guys!"

"Why not do both?" Torrie asked. "Cena is single." Marianne put her head in her hands and exhaled. "Come on, Marianne, you could use a guy."

"Funny," Marianne murmured as they pulled into the parking lot of a clothing store.

"You can maintain your tomboyish punk, we're just going to – girl it up a little."

"Because I've always wanted to dress like Ashley."

"We'll work with Lita...pre-Edge," she told her and that seemed to pacify her cousin somewhat and Torrie opened the door for her.

They walked out several hours later with an entire wardrobe for Marianne's summer planned out. Marianne couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong with her wardrobe; after all, it was comfortable. And she didn't want to be cast into the same category as the other Divas.

She got into the car as Torrie loaded the bags into the backseat behind hers. She got into the driver's seat and replied, "I'm not going to be coming with you tomorrow."

"No?"

"I have to be in Detroit to do a special thing," Torrie explained. "So I gotta leave you to handle Cena and the boys alone...don't look so scared, it'll be okay. They're good guys." She started the car and they began to make their way to the airport. Torrie was leaving tonight and Marianne was heading out to stay at a hotel until the following morning when she had to meet up with John Cena.

Tomorrow would be a day and a half. She could sense it already.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

The alarm clock went off and Marianne rolled over and stopped it with a violent slap. She saw the glaring eight-forty staring back at her and she remembered that today was the day that she needed to go to Basscamp Studios to work with John and the boys. She didn't need to be there until ten, but if Cena reported that she didn't look half-decent, Torrie would shoot her on sight. So she sat up and began to get ready for her day.

She dug through the new clothing and found a pair of black pants with the legs striped downward with fishnet. A more thorough probe found her the shirt she was going to wear for the day – a black halter trimmed with baby blue with a baby blue skull on the front. After changing into her clothing she began to work with her hair, feathering it outward just like the hairdresser had shown her yesterday. After applying a quick splash of blue eyeshadow and mascara, she quickly ran a tube of lip gloss over her lips. Studying her reflection in the mirror, she realized that she looked terrific.

She went out into the main area and sat down on the bed, lacing up her heeled boots when the phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"You awake?"

"Obviously, Torrie," she laughed. "How are things out in Detroit?"

"Not too bad, but I wish I could be out there with you guys to do the album," she confessed.

"You'll get to hear the final product when it's done," Marianne replied hopefully. She was fastening bracelets around her wrist. She couldn't believe herself with how different she looked. "Anyway, Torrie, I gotta run. Call me back on my cell."

"Okay." She hung up and true to fashion, within seconds, "Down With The Sickness" began to play.

"Hey, Torrie." She got up and gathered her purse and keycard and left the hotel room. "So when does your appearance start?"

"One," she replied. "It's nice to be a part of something like this, though. Sure didn't get to do this much in WCW. You heading over to Basscamp now?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way to the parking lot, so if my phone cuts out...sorry?" They laughed at her tone and she made her way down the steps towards the parking lot. Pulling open the door, Torrie started to cut in and out and finally, Marianne just told her to call her later. Basscamp wasn't too far from her hotel, according to her map. Thank God her car had GPS.

She slid into the driver's seat of her rental car; a red Honda Civic and she started the drive towards the recording studio.

She slid John Cena's CD into the stereo system of her car and began to take a listen to it, to see what exactly she would be entailed to play. She had to admit, it wasn't all that bad. She loved his entrance theme and really enjoyed "Summer Flings". But "Keep Frontin'" had to be her favorite one. That one and "Chain Gang Is The Click". When she finally arrived at Basscamp Studios, she couldn't wait to get started.

She entered the studio and was greeted by DJ Chaos. "You Marianne?"

"That would be me," she replied. He extended his hand and she shook it as he introduced himself.

"Guys should be here in a few minutes. Cena's usually pretty punctual." She nodded and he led her into the production area. It was a nice studio, her first time in a studio and she had to admit, she was captivated by the idea of being there.

At ten o'clock promptly, John walked in with his cousin. "Hey, guys, ready to get this rollin'?" He saw Marianne. "You did make it? T-Marc had me worried there. Said if you were nervous you could just hop a plane to Mexico." She laughed. "So you ready?"

"Hell yeah, let's get this show on the road."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

John handed her a sheet of white paper that contained the lyrics to one of his new songs, "Come Get Some". She had to admit, she was pretty surprised. The lyrics were pretty hard-hitting, and she was hoping that she could come up with something that would fit this. Cena was known for incorporating obscure instruments into his music, having incorporated horns in "The Time Is Now" and flutes in "What Now."

She stared down at the lyrics, thinking about what kind of riff she wanted to wail out on the guitar to this. She was face to face with John's belt as he loomed over her, asking, "You got anything?"

"Give me a couple minutes," she replied. She grabbed her electric guitar and asked him, "what are you looking for? Heavy? Melodic? Pop? What?"

"Whatever you think suits it," Cena replied. "You're the musician." She smiled at him cynically and began to pull out a melodic riff that sounded slightly heavy, yet upbeat at the same time. Everybody watched her, taken aback by how fast her fingers were moving on the frets and how she made the entire thing seem so easy. When she finished, she looked up at all of them.

"That work?"

"Hell yeah, that works," Trademarc piped up. "Let's get her in the booth."

John led her to the booth. "Thanks for agreeing to come out here and do this."

"Oh, like you were really giving me much of a choice," Marianne answered. "You wouldn't have left me alone."

"True enough, but can you see why? You're fantastic." He opened the booth door for her and she walked in, standing in the middle of the room with the guitar. She looked hot, Cena had to admit it. He wasn't all for the punk rockers, but there was something about her that seemed so innocent, so sweet, like her cousin.

She started it up and Chaos approached Cena. "You tell her about doing vocals yet?"

"Nah, I'll catch her with that during lunch," he replied. "Give her some time to get comfortable with the studio. You can just see how nervous she is." He nodded his head towards her and Chaos had to nod.

"She's amazing to come up with something like that in mere seconds," Chaos replied. "So, care to fill me in about how you found her?"

"This is Torrie Wilson's cousin, Marianne," he replied. "I ran into her one night while she was playing a riff and it just kind of escalated from there."

Four and a half minutes later, her recording was done and she pulled the guitar off of her and rested it against the booth as she stepped out. Cena came into the area. "Fantastic stuff, Marianne. Now what say you and I go on a lunch break."

"I just got here...oh, no...you have something else planned, don't you?"

The guys laughed at him. "Torrie failed to mention your perception," he answered and she laughed. "Yeah, there is an ulterior motive. I want you to lay down some backing vocals for..."

"Oh, hell no."

He smiled. "Come on. It's only for one track. It'll be you, me, T-Marc, and Freddy Foxxx."

"Bumpy Knuckles is coming in too?" she looked up at the ceiling and exhaled. This was a nerve-wracking experience.

"Yeah, he'll be here tomorrow morning."

"I'd have to come back?"

He was smiling. He had to enjoy her stubbornness. "Marianne, I don't get why you're so shy. You're so frickin' talented. Come on. I swear, if you don't like it, we won't use it."

"You promise?" she asked after a long pause. He nodded.

"I swear on it."

"What's this going to require?"

"Guitar, and laying down the hook to the song?"

"Can I see the song?"

"Freddy's revamping the lyrics at home right now, so you'll see it tomorrow. But it's got some elements of that old song 'Fever'...you know it right?" She nodded. "You just need to sing the main part of that."

"Doesn't sound too taxing," she told him. He nodded. "All right, but if it doesn't sound good, axe it and get Lilian or something."

"Ha. You don't know how rough it is to get Lilian in to do something musically with us." She nodded; she could understand. Lilian was busy with her own album promotions. Not to mention she was usually singing the national anthem for sports games around America.

"Okay, so what happens now?"

"Well, we're going to need to record the vocals, and then we're going to see if we can match up the guitar. If not, then you have to step back in to correct a few things and Chaos and Order here will patch it up along with the scratching." She nodded.

The day went surprisingly quickly. Marianne realized that John was incredibly funny and she couldn't wait to see how it all was going to turn out. It also made her kind of excited to lay down the vocals the following day, but she was still scared about it. She was pretty sure Torrie had things she had to do tomorrow, and being left in the hands of John Cena seemed almost uncomfortable to her for some reason. Maybe it was because he was so nice and outgoing with her. Most people weren't. She was the invisible ghost type, and she loved life that way.

Throughout the whole day, she could catch him staring at her as she got hold of a bass guitar and began to see if she could come up with something for the following day. If she saw an electric for what she was thinking about, then the next song would be ruined.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Marianne felt butterflies in her stomach as she walked into Basscamp studios the following day. Today was the day that she actually had to lay down the backing vocals. She had been practicing the entire night before.

John was already there with the guys. They were all visibly hungover, sipping on coffee. "Hey, Marianne. You ready for the track today?" She nodded and he handed her a lyric sheet. She had to admit, it was pretty good. From the way yesterday went, though,she was pretty much aware that she was going to be working on this track for the better part of the day.

"What kind of beat do you see for this?" Marc asked her. She shrugged.

"I don't see an electric, if that's what you mean. If you're painting this off to be seductive, maybe a little dark, then we should take the route that 'Keep Frontin'" set with minimal electrics and a lot of bass."

"What do you think, Cena?" Chaos asked. John put his coffee cup down and stood to his feet

"I think we should get this bitch rollin'," he told them. "Let's follow her instincts. She's pretty impressive." Marianne smiled, thankful for Cena's faith in her.

John went into the first booth and waited for Marianne to do the instrumentals. Finally, she joined him in a second booth and put her headset on. Chaos gave them the beats.

John stepped towards the microphone and began to rhyme. After the first line, the bass resonated and the beat picked up.

"Yo, I step up to the party, all eyes on me

But I shake my shoulder off, you know they can't see me

I see her at the bar like an angel in a dream

Drinking with her friends on some sweet Dom P

I slide up to the bar, cause my game is tight

I'm here for some love, I ain't looking for fights

Her eyes search me up and down, she likes what she sees

I got her wrapped around my finger, beaten one-two-three

She looks at me, licking her sweet candy lips

Running her hands along those nice curvy hips

So I take her to the dance floor, where we rock the place

I push her up against me, she ain't got nothing to fear

And she up towards me and she whispers into my ear

And she says"

Marianne held onto her earphones and put herself closer to the mic.

"Fever – when you kiss me, even when you hold me tight, you give me fever..."

A few hours later, Torrie Wilson stopped in to check up on her cousin. John had taken Marianne out for lunch and the duo returned to find Torrie waiting in the main room.

"Hey, Marianne. Thought I'd come and see how day two was going, since I missed yesterday."

"Candice and Victoria ain't with you, are they?" John inquired. Torrie laughed.

"No, Cena. I left them at the arena."

"She's doing great," Cena told Torrie. "If you want to come with us into the production booth, you can take a look at a few of the things that she has done. We've got about two or three tracks completed with her, and they are all better than the last."

Torrie nodded, obviously impressed and followed them into the booth. Cena instructed Chaos to bring up the tracks. Despite Chaos' proclamation that the tracks weren't completed yet and the tracks being completely filled with raw talent, he set it all up for Torrie to listen to.

Marianne was nervous. Torrie was her best friend, and if she didn't like the work that she had done, she would have to beg John to withdraw the tracks from the album.

Torrie smiled. "Sounds fantastic so far. I can't wait to hear the rest of the album." She turned her attention to Marianne. "Wasn't I right? This was a wonderful opportunity for you."

"It totally is," Marianne replied with a smile.

"I have to get back to the arena before the women come looking for me," Torrie joked, "we all know Cena doesn't want them here. I'll see you at Raw tonight." Marianne nodded and hugged Torrie before leaving.

Marianne went back to work.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Marianne was exhausted by the time she finally returned to the hotel that night. Torrie was there waiting for her, with fixings for ice cream sundaes. When Marianne expressed surprise in the choice of treats, Torrie justified it with her explanation that she had busted herself sore in the gym that day. Marianne laughed. "Well, I busted myself in the studio," Marianne replied, taking a bowl from Torrie, "so I say we have an ice cream and CSI marathon."

"Miami?" Torrie asked. Marianne's face scrunched.

"God, no!" she exlaimed. "Horatio is such a stooge." Torrie laughed.

"I like him," she replied.

"You like Victoria and Candice, too – so no accounting for taste," Marianne replied. Torrie suppressed a laugh and they went over to the beds and settled in, eating ice cream with mounds of whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles.

"Those are some good tracks, Marianne. Cena's got to be ecstatic."

"You'd better believe it...you know, I think he was hungover today," Marianne replied.

"Makes him more creative," Torrie replied with a mouthful of whipped cream. Marianne laughed.

"I doubt he really needs help on that front," Marianne replied. "He was just coming up with shit off the top of his head today. It was insane. I think he ad-libbed an entire verse on one of his tracks."

"Cena does a lot of freestyling with the guys when we tour overseas. It was actually how his whole gimmick took off. He credits the creative team with helping him find that niche. It's not an easy business, Marianne. We're like independent salesmen. We have to have everything together and make sure the fans follow us, otherwise we're useless. We're only as good as the draw we make."

"Well, you've managed to stay popular for a long time," Marianne replied, taking a bite of ice cream. "I mean, you've been doing this for almost a decade."

"And I wouldn't trade my job in for anything," Torrie replied. "Despite all the injuries, it has provided me with so many great opportunities to travel and to just be out there."

"I'm pretty sure Auntie Judy has some issues with some of the things you've been exposed to," Marianne teased. Torrie laughed.

"Yeah, Playboy's still a pretty sore spot for Mom," she answered. "She wouldn't even look at the one I did with Sable."

"How can you do something like that?" Marianne inquired, taking a bite of her ice cream. "That's just...I couldn't do that."

"It's not that difficult," Torrie answered. "But it was a great opportunity for me and for the company."

"How did Peter take it when you told him you were going to do it?"

"He had his issues with it, but otherwise he was okay with what I was doing. In the end that's a decision I have to make for myself. And I made it. I definitely don't regret it. Either time."

"Would you do it again?"

"Probably," Torrie answered, eating her ice cream. "But I don't make that kind of thing a top priority. And I'm pretty sure they're happy with getting a lot of the other Divas to do it. Candice, Ashley, myself, Sable, Chyna. We all managed to have great careers, but Playboy wasn't our top priority."

"Did Trish ever do it?" Marianne asked. Trish Stratus was considered by many to be one of the greats and she was a good friend of Torrie's.

"No," Torrie replied. "But that's not to say nobody wanted it that way. They courted her like you wouldn't believe. But she wanted to be remembered for her career, and not for a nude pictoral spread. Which I respect. A lot of the Divas could learn something from her."

"Did you learn from her?"

"Of course I did. She was around before I was. When I had arrived in WWE, Stacy and I had no idea what we were doing. See, Vince Russo and the guys weren't too concerned about our wrestling skills, they just wanted nice women for the guys to look at on TV.

"Trish and Lita watched out for us a lot more than they really had to, and for that, I could never thank them enough. They're fantastic women. I was so sad when Trish left us, but it was so wonderful being at her wedding. She looked so beautiful. I was so happy for her."

They fell silent and continued to watch CSI. Marianne wondered about the life of a Diva. She had been traveling with Torrie for a couple weeks now and the travel seemed so hectic, so chaotic, yet Torrie handled it all so well, with the ease of a seasoned veteran. Of course, she was a seasoned veteran. While all the other Divas around her were leaving to pursue alternate careers and lifestyles, and settling into some semblance of normalcy, Torrie was still slugging it out. It seemed almost foreign to Marianne that the Women's Championship had never been put on Torrie in her six years with the company. While it had been put on women like Candice, Melina and Sable, it seemed like it was almost a travesty that Torrie had never been allowed to be a part of that elite female crowd.

Tomorrow they had to catch an early flight out back to Torrie's place. It was their day off, but Torrie had a promotional appearance on a radio show in Boise. Media appearances had been slightly difficult for WWE Superstars since June, when an unspeakable tragedy had befallen the roster, resulting in heavy media scrutiny. Candice had won the Women's Championship the night before, and everybody who had joined the elite group of champions had been overshadowed by overzealous media pundits.

Marianne remembered how frustrated Torrie had been when men like Marc Mero and Konnan had come out attacking her company. There was a sense of loyalty to the WWE and she had been so thankful when Chris Jericho and John Cena had come out to defend the company. She wished there was something that she could have done. But it had been a touchy, dark time for the company.

When Marianne went to bed that night, she thought about working with John Cena in the studio. He was so sweet, so funny. And she thought he was totally cute. His presence with her was just so comforting, and he always made her feel at ease in the locker room and in the studio.

She tried to sleep. Torrie had passed out without any issue. Their ice cream bowls were stacked atop each other on the nightstand. No matter how hard she tried to sleep, however, she found her mind just kept going back to John Cena.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

They returned to Torrie's house early the following afternoon. She had spent the flight texting John Cena back and forth, working on text messages. He wanted her to work on riffs on her time off. She wanted him to work on some lyrics for her. She'd bring whatever she wrote and they'd figure out what works the best. Torrie watched her cousin, head hunched, fingers typing into the phone. "Cena's been paying a lot of attention to you, huh?" she asked as they pulled into Torrie's driveway. "He's been texting you since we got on the plane."

"Album stuff," Marianne replied. She sent the text message out and she turned her focus back to Torrie. "I have to admit, it's amazing to be getting the opportunity to do studio work. And Cena's a genius in the studio."

"I have to admit, the tracks are sounding great," Torrie answered. She popped the trunk and they got out of the car, gathering their things. Torrie was finally settled into the new place. She unlocked the door and they walked inside.

Marianne started to vibrate and she fumbled for her cell phone. She smiled and started texting him back. Torrie went straight to the kitchen to fix herself a drink. "Marianne, you want a soda?"

"That'd be great," Marianne called back, texting John. It would be another week before she'd be out to spend some time with John. It gave her plenty of time to work on some guitar riffs and lyrics. She was going to have her nose to the grindstone for the next week. Cena was writing material at record speed, with everyone working on beats. John seemed very confident in her abilities, and was using her for everything that he needed that Chaos and Order couldn't provide for him.

Later on in the night, Marianne went upstairs to the spare room. She let Torrie know she'd be working on some album stuff. Torrie nodded. She wanted to watch a few movies, so Marianne was free to roam away and do her own thing. Torrie sat down on the couch and got ready to watch Love, Actually. Marianne went upstairs and into the spare room. Her guitar was leaned up against the wall. She sat on the bed and gathered a notebook. She stared using her fingers to work on riffs. At some points she'd figure it was too much like another song she heard and she'd stop, thinking of ways to change frets and tuning to make it sound different. She was writing down the tabs for everything that she played so that she would be able to remember it when she saw the guys the following week.

John Cena was so cute. She tried not to think about him, but her brain just kept going back to him. His smile always lit up the room, and his over-the-top personality always made her feel confident. He was unafraid to take risks and he was helping her take more risks in the studio. He really wanted to use her on tour when the time came and the album was released. Marianne was hesitant. That was the issue with John Cena. The guy could talk a nun out of celibacy. He was just too sweet. And those eyes...

Marianne snapped out of her reverie and tried to keep working on music. It was her stress reliever. No matter what happened in her life, she always turned to music. She began to play again, a soothing ballad sound. She wondered how well the album would sell. She had read that his last album had done quite well, and she hoped the follow-up wouldn't suffer the effects of the sophomore jinx.

She found her iPod in the nightstand and she turned on some Lily Allen. She wondered if there were any different genres she could sample in hopes of working on the new album. Every musician influenced themselves from the work of others. She kept strumming, and writing the tabs down on the notebook paper in front of her. Her phone vibrated. It was another text message from John.

She smiled. He had been keeping up an endless chatter. She had been a little shy to tell Torrie, but it had quit being about the album when she had gotten off of the plane. Now they were just going back and forth about life in general. He was on his way home to spend time with his brothers and his dog.

Marianne was pretty sure that Torrie knew something was going on with her and Cena. Marianne was pretty sure Torrie was reading into it too much. At least on Cena's end. She just seemed to be a great music buddy to him. It was her who was drooling over him like crazy. Who hung onto his every word as though it were gospel.

She wondered if she should tour with him when the album is finished. It seemed ludicrous to put her schooling aside, but she would have followed John Cena to the ends of the earth if he had asked.

The phone vibrated again. She smiled. She could keep going all night.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Backstage, Marianne sat by herself in a secluded area, headphones on her ears, her notebook scattered around her. John had sent her some instrumental beats to listen to and see if there was anything she could do to add her "flavor" to them. She was mouthing the words to her lyrics with where she thought the hook was located, and deciding whether or not they were going to look. She didn't care for a lot of her lyrics; she believed that you could write a hundred songs before coming up with something gold.

Candice Michelle approached her. "Hey, girlie," she replied. Marianne looked up. As of late, Candice had been going out of her way to be nice to Marianne, and it left her feeling suspicious of the GoDaddy Diva. "What are you up to?"

Marianne pulled the headphones off of her ears so they hung down around her neck. "Just working on some stuff for Cena's new album." Candice nodded, leaning over to look at the scrawled notes and lyrics written all over the page.

"John seems to be showing you a lot of attention," Candice replied. Marianne shrugged.

"Well, we are working on an album together," Marianne informed her dryly. Candice nodded. "He sent me some instrumentals to see if I could put some vocals here or there and see if there was anything I could do with some guitars. He told me he wanted a rock fusion in this album."

"Can I hear some of the instrumentals?" Candice inquired. Marianne shrugged; she didn't see the harm. She removed her headset and handed it to Candice and let her sample a few of the backbeats. "That man is so talented," Candice replied, handing the headset back to Marianne when she was finished. Marianne nodded.

"Guy is a machine." Candice stood up.

"I've got to go get ready for my match against Jillian. Wish me luck."

"Shut her up, please," Marianne replied. They both laughed; her singing was wretched. Marianne watched, bewildered, as Candice made her way down the hall. She couldn't understand why Candice was being so nice to her all of a sudden. It was a little weird. She shrugged and put her headset back on her ears, listening to the instrumentals and revamping the lyrics. She was determined to have it all figured out by the time she went to the next studio meeting in two days.

Torrie discovered her cousin working hard. She smiled. The last few weeks had been so busy for her and she and John Cena had been bonding like she had never seen. John had taken a shine to her, their love being music, and she couldn't help but wonder if something more was blossoming between the two. They were texting each other like crazy back and forth, spending just about every waking moment with one another or communicating with one another. She remembered when days had been like that with her ex husband. It was the honeymoon phase.

Summer would eventually fade into autumn, and Marianne would be back at school, working on her music courses. She wondered what was going to happen between her and John then. The two of them were so in sync with one another that it seemed foreign to Torrie that they would lose touch, become strangers. For the first time in a long time, Marianne seemed happy. And she had really come into her own since coming on the road with Torrie, with the change in her appearance, the opportunity to work on the new album with John Cena, and the chance to meet new people and get a broader experience in her life than what she was used to.

Torrie approached her cousin. Marianne looked up and removed a headset from her ear. "Hey, Torrie," she said, a smile pulling at her face. "What's up?"

"Not too much," she replied, sitting down beside her cousin. "Album stuff?"

Marianne nodded. "Yeah. I'm meeting at Basscamp in two days, and I wanted to have a bunch more things done for when I go. That way I can say that I've been keeping as busy as the guys."

"I don't think John expects you to be as busy as he is." Marianne nodded; she didn't think that she could. The man was a machine; how he never crashed and burned was a mystery to her.

"I know. But I just want to keep busy."

"Well, I've got to go do a photo shoot. So if you need anything, Candice can direct you to where I am, okay?"

Marianne scrunched her face. "Do I really have to talk to her?"

"Either that or Jillian."

"I'll talk to Candice." Torrie laughed, slapped her cousin on the back and made her way off to her photo shoot. Marianne shrugged, put her headset back on her ears and began to work with the lyrics again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thirteen**

Marianne walked into Basscamp Studios with an enormous smile on her face, which quickly faded when she found out she was the only one there. She looked around. "Hello?" she called out. "Anyone here?"

She heard a door open and John stepped into her view. "Hey, Marianne. You're early." He checked his watch. It was eight-thirty in the morning.

"Where's everyone?" she inquired.

"I told everyone not to come in until ten. Didn't you get the message?"

"No, I didn't," she answered. "Why are you here so early?"

"I wanted to try and work with some lyrics a bit, so I came for quiet."

"Do you want me to leave?" She felt guilty about being there when he was searching for peace and quiet.

"Nah, nah. You worked on new stuff?" he asked. She nodded and held up her notebook. He smiled. "Come on. Let's go to check this stuff out, okay?" She followed him into the production booth and he sat down in a chair. He opened her notebook and began to read through her lyrics. He nodded. "There's a few lyrics that I like, there's a few not so much. But I think we can make everything work." She nodded; she appreciated his criticism. He flashed her a smile. She had to admit; his smile lit up the room. "I think that you're doing great, Marianne. Torrie has to be really proud of you."

"She is," Marianne admitted. He flashed her another smile and he stood to his feet.

"I think that you and I can start working on some guitar stuff until the others arrive," he said. "You up for that? Or is it still too early?"

"No, no," she insisted. "Now is fine." He smiled and she went into the recording area and grabbed a guitar. She adjusted the foot pedals and fixed the distortion to more of a hip-hop sound, if she even thought it possible. She put on her headset. John was in her ear.

"Hey. I'll play a first go around of the track 'Hard Hitters'," he told her. She nodded. He had to admit; she was pretty cute. Even more so since she had gotten her little makeover. He remembered her the first night they had met; she was so mousy, so demure. He felt as though she had really come into her own since they had started recording together. He pressed a few buttons; and before she knew it there was the beat in her ears. She listened to the beat the first time around to get a feel for it, her fingers moving along the frets in practice. When it was over, he restarted the beat and she began to play. It amazed him how quick she caught onto the music; it was almost as though the music was just an extension flowing from her fingertips.

The doors opened behind John and his cousin walked in. "Yo, man, what are you doing here so early?" he inquired, sipping on a cup of coffee he had picked up on the way.

"I could ask you the same question, man," John replied. "I came to work on some lyrics. Marianne here didn't get the message I sent and so she's laying down some guitar for the 'Hard Hitters' track." Marc nodded.

"She's been working pretty hard on this stuff, huh?"

"Dude, you have no idea," John replied. He motioned over to where her notebook lay on the table top. "That over there, is a bunch of lyrics and tabs she made up for some tracks on the album."

"You serious?" John nodded and Marc went over to take a look. He sat down and opened the book. He flipped through the pages. "This is pretty impressive." John nodded.

"Tell me about it."

"Think we'll get her along on our tour?"

"Maybe for a few dates. I'm not too sure what's happening at the end of the summer. But Torrie said she's got school." Marc nodded.

"Maybe after we finish the album, we'll bring up the idea to her. I can't see why she wouldn't," John told him. "It would be a huge opportunity for her."

"Yeah," Marc agreed. "It would." Their eyes focused on Marianne as the track wound to a close. She pulled off the headset and she put the guitar back against the stand before she made her way back into the production booth.

"Morning, Marc," she said before turning her attention to John. "How did the guitar sound on the track?"

"You are a genius," he told her. He hit a few buttons and the two overlaid tracks began to play. She smiled. It sounded good. "I think the best thing that happened to this album was us talking you into it." She blushed slightly. He noticed.

"Don't be so modest," Marc informed her, noticing her demeanor change. "You've done a fantastic job. You've really got an ear for what you're doing."

"Thanks," she replied. "I appreciate it."

"Now, what's say we start getting the lyrics laid down to this track. I think we got another hot one on our hands," John announced. Marianne smiled.

John stood up and made his way into the recording booth. He knew that his next big task would be talking Marianne into going on tour once the album came out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Fourteen**

Candice Michelle watched her interacting with John. The way she laughed, the way he went out of his way to touch her. She could sense something was going on between the two of them that reached further than this album ever could. They spent just about every waking moment together and when they weren't together, they were sending text messages back and forth.

"Hey, Candy," Torrie said, approaching her friend from behind. "What are you looking at?"

"Your cousin making googly eyes all over the Champion," she replied with a roll of her brown eyes. "You should get that girl under control; the way she flaunts herself back here." Torrie guffawed.

"Coming from a girl who has her ass hanging out at this very moment," Torrie chortled. Candice narrowed her eyes. "Candy, would you lighten up? They're working on an album together. It's a very collaborative effort, with her doing a lot of composing. This is great for her; especially with her going back to school pretty soon."

"Yeah. I forgot about that; when does she leave?"

"In about three weeks." Torrie looked at the clock on the wall. "I need to go and talk to Mickie James about something. I'll see you in a bit for our tag match?"

"Yeah. You know it." Torrie walked away. When Candice was sure she was out of sight, she fixed her cleavage in her corset and walked over to John and Marianne, a seductive smile on her exotic features.

Marianne turned as Candice approached, turning back to John and rolling her eyes. "Hello, Johnny," she purred, running a manicured hand up his muscular arm. "Marianne," she added, her tone taking on a hard edge.

"Candice."

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Working on the album," John replied, shooting a helpless look at Marianne as Candice petted him. "Top secret stuff."

"Is this your guitar?" Candice asked, pointing to Marianne's Tiger Maple guitar leaned up against a trunk.

"Yeah. This is my baby. Tiger Maple. Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess," she replied indifferently. "It's just a ratty old guitar to me."

"So what are you over here for?" Marianne asked, "To insult my guitar or pet my collaborator like he's some Chihuahua in your purse?" John coughed. Candice shot him a dark glare and he motioned to his throat.

"You just wait until I tell Torrie about this!" Candice hissed. Marianne shrugged.

"Go ahead. We're all adults here." Shrieking, Candice hurled herself at Marianne, sending the two of them over the trunk. Marianne screamed in surprise as the two of them fell over the trunk.

"Whoa!" John shouted, jumping up and over the trunks to dig the girls out. Victoria was there in an instant, trying to help Candice, but a few security guards were there, pulling them all apart. John held Marianne in his arms, staring at her in shock. Candice held a clump of her hair in her hand, a sick, twisted, demented smile on her face as she dangled it in front of Marianne.

"Has all that silicone infected your brain, you crazy _whore_?" she shouted.

"Don't talk to Candy like that," Victoria warned her.

"Oh, look, here's Tweedle-fucking-Dumb sticking her nose where it doesn't belong," Marianne fumed, running a hand over her sore and aching head. How she wished she could get her hands on Candice and send her sailing through a wall.

"You won't talk to me like that," Victoria howled.

"What is your guys' problem?" John asked, astounded at how quickly everything had completely broken down. In true Diva fashion, all three of the girls ignored him, instead venting their anger at one another with renewed venom.

"You better watch your back here, _bitch_," Candice warned her. "Torrie and John can't protect you ever hour of every day."

"I can handle myself, Silicone Queen, don't you worry," she assured her. Security began to pull Candice and Victoria away. They finally conceded to the security guards, but not before levelling a stern warning to Marianne that it wasn't over. When they were out of earshot, John turned his attention to Marianne, who was cut on her forearm.

"Jeez…you're bleeding," he breathed. He looked back down the hall, where they had disappeared, before turning his attention back to her. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she assured him. "I've been bullied worse." She shook her head. A searing jolt of pain reverberated through her cranium.

"Mari-"

"I'm fine, John," she reassured him firmly. Her face had yet to loosen up out of the scowl she was sporting. "I think all that saline is starting to rot her brain." John laughed.

"Come on," he said to her, "let's get you to the trainer's office so they can have a look at you."

"I'm…"

"Stop. It's a precautionary measure. Just to make sure you don't have a concussion."

"I know I have a concussion…crazy bitch." She grabbed Tiger Maple and allowed John to lead her down the hall towards the trainer's office. Torrie ran up to her, her eyes wide in shock.

"Candice said you attacked her! Mari!"

"That's bullshit, Torrie," John informed her. He turned his attention to Marianne. "Go talk to Dr. Rios, get yourself looked at." Knowing better than to argue with him, Marianne went into the trainers room and John turned his attention to Torrie.

"Way to ask her what happened first, Torrie."

"What did happen, John?"

"Candice attacked her. It happened fast too. One second Candice was on me, the next she was on Marianne, banging her head against the storage crates." He shook his head. "Candice and Victoria are nothing but a bunch of bullies."

"What did Victoria have to do with this?"

"She tried to double team Marianne with Candice."

"What?"

"Your friends are not your friends, Torrie. And God forbid they act out on any of the threats they are making on your cousin." He shook his head, staring at the door, wondering just what was going on in there. He shook it off and turned back to Torrie. "There's a good shot that she has a concussion. You're going to need to do your job and watch out for her tonight." Without giving her a chance to speak, he turned on his heels and went into the room, closing the door in her face.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Marianne was still seething about the fact that Candice had gotten the better of her the week before. She had also wound up with a dislocated finger that had become quite painful once the shock and the adrenaline had worn off. Thanks to the damage, all she could really do was put her composition ideas on paper; trying it out would have to wait a few more weeks.

Torrie had barely spoken to her in the last week, torn between her family and her friends. To Marianne, it was clear-cut; after all, they were bound by blood. But Torrie sure wasn't seeing it that way. Marianne had let Torrie know that she was unhappy by staying in her room the entire week. She would have gone home, but she didn't want to disappoint John, especially when they were so close to finishing the album. She felt stuck in a situation that threatened to get worse.

She entered the arena a little bit later, thanks in part to Torrie having to do a photo shoot for the corporation's website. Even though she would never admit it out loud, Marianne was worried about getting jumped again by Victoria and Candice. Those two were insane in her eyes.

John was waiting for her, leaned back against a trunk, reading the latest issue of WWE Magazine. His blue eyes peered over the top of the page, and she could see a smile spread across his features when he laid eyes on her. "Marianne!" With a nod of his head, he beckoned her over to him. When she approached, she saw he had two cups of coffee behind him. "Hit up a Starbucks on the way here," he said, "Figured you could use one. How's your finger?"

"More of an inconvenience than anything," Marianne answered, staring down at her splinted middle finger. "I can't believe none of us noticed it."

"Well, Marianne, all hell _was _breaking loose." She nodded.

"Have they arrived yet?"

"Oh yeah. You're more or less the last one here. Try not to worry too much; just stick around with me tonight, all right?"

"Sure." In the back of her head, she remembered Candice and Victoria warning her that nobody could watch her twenty-four hours a day. She hated the feeling that the other shoe was going to drop sooner rather than later. Was it going to be this week? Next week?

"Hey - Earth to Marianne - what's on your brain?"

"Nothing. It's just a pain in the ass that I can't play right now." She wiggled her finger, wincing a little bit at the nerve pain that shot through her arm.

"How is the composition going?"

"Not too good, I'm afraid," Marianne confessed. "Everything I'm working on…it's just not good enough. At least that's how I see it. I guess I'm just too objective about my work."

"That's not a bad thing. Look, I know it's a bad time; you're injured, you're pissed off, but I was thinking that maybe when the album is done and released, maybe you would like to come out on tour with me."

"What? Oh, John…I don't know…" It was the last thing Marianne got out before everything went to black.

When Marianne came to, she was laying face down on the trainer's table. The back of her head was frozen, but she could still feel Dr. Rios working on her. "Ahhh…ahhh…"

"Marianne? Oh, thank God you're awake," John breathed. He was clutching her uninjured hand.

"John…what happened?" she managed to choke out. Her throat hurt.

"Those bitches, Candice and Victoria. Came up behind you like lightning and took you out. They, uh, broke a kendo stick across the back of your head. Dr. Rios had to pull some of it out of your head. He's just stitching you up right now."

"God damn it…"

"Hold still, Ms. Wilson. We're almost finished here."

"I'm sure Torrie is off consoling Candice. I'm sure I got a few good shots in before she _jumped me from behind_." John sighed.

"Try to calm down, Marianne. I'll go talk to Vince about this."

"Are you done for the night, John?"

"No, unfortunately. You thinking of just going home after this?"

"Do you blame me?"

"Not in the slightest. I'll go talk to one of my friends and see if they'll drive you back to the hotel for me."

"Thanks, John. I appreciate it."

Shawn Michaels was waiting in the parking lot for her when she was finished being stitched up, sympathy etched on his weathered features. "Those girls are pretty vicious, aren't they?" he inquired. She nodded. "Let me take a look."

"Took Dr. Rios three stitches to close it up back there," she answered with a defeated sigh. "He's going to know me pretty well if this keeps up."

"John's talking to Vince tonight. I've always had those two pegged for bullies, but I didn't think they would be this violent with you. Should I take you to the hospital before the hotel?" Marianne shook her head.

"Dr. Rios said I should be fine. Just to be careful." Shawn opened the door for her and she climbed in. She buckled her seatbelt as he closed the door for her and made his way around the hood. "Thanks for driving me back to the hotel," she replied as he slid in beside her. "Dr. Rios said I shouldn't really be operating any heavy machinery at the moment. I guess that includes driving."

"No problem, beautiful; my segment was done for the night anyways," he answered. He decided to change the subject to something lighter. "I heard John say that the album is almost done."

"Yeah. He's got a few more tracks to record. My input is done, which is good. I've been so busy working on my compositions…"

"Are you going to tour with him when the album comes out? He's been hoping that you would say yes."

"Doubtful. I'll probably be so busy with school by the time the album comes out."

"That's too bad. I think that would be a pretty awesome opportunity for you. And take it from me, I know all about opportunity. I've been very blessed in this business."

"Did John ask you to talk to me about this?"

"No, no. Just striking up some conversation with you, Dear. John only asked me to drive you back to the hotel and get you settled. He said he would stop in and visit you after the show with some ice cream and make sure you were feeling better."

"What a sweetheart."

"Seems that way to me," Shawn replied. "Anyway, back to the tour thing. It's a huge opportunity for you to travel some more and get some concert experience if you are planning on being a musician. Plus, you'll be among friends." He turned at the red light. "Consider it, for me?"

Marianne laughed. "Sure, Shawn. I'll consider it."

"Good stuff. I know it's hard for you with all these injuries right now, but please don't let what those girls are doing to you tarnish what you think of our company. They're two bad apples that really threaten to ruin the entire bunch."

"Don't worry, Shawn; I'm not holding you guys responsible for those two. It isn't your job to look after them." Shawn nodded, seemingly satisfied by her answer. He turned into the parking lot of the hotel. "Thanks again for the ride, Shawn. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

"Please tell John not to worry too much; I'm fine." He nodded, flashing her his trademark Heartbreak Kid smile.

John arrived at about midnight with some ice cream while Marianne was watching an old rerun of _South Park_. "You're still awake?"

"Concussed, remember?" she answered, going back to the bed and sitting down.

"I brought a pint of Ben & Jerry's strawberry cheesecake for you and some Half-Baked for me." He went into the kitchenette area and came back with two spoons. He handed Marianne the strawberry cheesecake. "Has Torrie stopped by?" he asked. Marianne shook her head.

"She's off partying with Ashley and Mickie tonight." John bit the inside of his cheek. Marianne didn't care at the moment; she turned her attention to _South Park_ as she peeled off the lid of the ice cream.

"They're going to run me out of here, John, you know that, right?"

"Don't talk like that, Marianne. Vince was having a talk with the two of them tonight. It should be better."

Marianne wanted to inform him that Vince's words would more than likely have no effect on the girls, but she kept her mouth shut. She just watched Eric Cartman torment Kyle while she absently ate her ice cream, leaving John to stare at her in bewilderment, wondering just what she was going to do about the entire situation.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Mari, the stuff you did for the album sounds so phenomenal! John showed me a rough cut the other day…who knew you had the pipes too?"

Marianne was talking to Lilian Garcia backstage, a fellow musician who was currently working on her debut Spanish album, set to be released within the next few months if everything went right. It was a crisp Monday night, just minutes before _Raw _was set to emanate live from the Arrowhead Pond Arena in Anaheim, California.

A blush crawled up Marianne's neck. "Thanks," she laughed. "I appreciate it. I still can't believe I let John and Torrie talk me into doing it. It just feels so weird." Lilian laughed.

"You get used to it. It's such an addicting experience, being in the studio and collaborating. The first time I did it, I was just hooked."

"Have you ever collaborated with John?" she asked. Lilian shook her head.

"No. He's never asked me. Our musical styles are quite a bit different, plus when you're recording an album, and he's recording an album, it's hard to get the schedules to match up, you know?" Marianne nodded. "So, what are you up to tonight, with the summer almost over?"

"I have to finish my composition for the auditions," she answered. "My finger is just about healed up, and with the time away, I'm hoping now that I think what I've got is good enough. I know I'm being a total perfectionist, but I just want in so bad."

"That's the sign of a true artist," Lilian informed her, "the ability to be overtly objective about your work, and the desire to make everything the best it can be. How about you show me next week what you have so far and I'll totally give you some pointers. You know, from an outsider's perspective?"

"Yeah, that would be great. I'd really appreciate it."

"Great. I would like to stay and talk longer, but I have to get out to the ring before the show starts. I'll catch up with you later, Mari. Say hi to Torrie for me."

"Sure thing. Thanks, Lilian." With that, the demure ring announcer took off down the hallway, weaving through the throngs of technicians and musclemen. Marianne checked the clock; there was two weeks left before the summer was over and she had her audition. Knowing full well that John's album had eaten up her time and made her procrastinate enough; she walked down the concrete hallway towards the Divas locker room.

Marianne's eyes couldn't clearly focus on anything when she stepped foot in the Divas locker room; everything was in shambles, ransacked.

Whomever had destroyed the room had done a great job in the sense that there was no possible way that just one person could fix it. She definitely couldn't; the worst part was the knowledge that her relationship with John and Torrie was the catalyst for all of this. This was worse than hazing; it was nothing more than bullying by some jealous, shallow women who passed themselves off as strong and confident heroines.

She noticed a smoking pile of embers on the floor. With great trepidation, she sauntered across the room to it, closing the door behind her. It was a miracle the smoke hadn't spread, let alone set off the sprinklers that lined the ceiling. Crouching down, she examined it, grabbing a corner that had remained unlit. When her eyes finally settled and everything clicked in her mind, she felt her stomach sink down into her feet, her eyes beginning to water.

It was her audition composition.

Her head whipped around so fast that her neck cracked. A lump formed in her throat as she scoped the room; her Tiger Maple wasn't in her view. The case was laid out on the floor, empty, destructed. What appeared to be tanning oil and lotions spelled slut at the bottom of the case, while the top of the case spelled bitch. Marianne ran a hand through her hair, sighing so deep that her entire body seemed to sink. Standing slowly, she made her way through the enormous archway that led her into the shower stalls. She pulled a few curtains open. When she came to the third one before the last, her eyes instantly clouded over with tears when she saw what had been done.

Her Tiger Maple, the guitar she had spent an entire summer working to buy in her sophomore year of high school, lay smashed in pieces on the blinding white tile. There was no possible way it could be salvaged. The tile walls in the shower were dented from where the guitar had been swung and cracked. The only thing that held the pieces together were the strings. Unable to contain herself anymore, she let out a loud sob, sinking to the floor, hands covering her face.

A set of arms encased her. She struggled to move away, but they stayed in place; enormous, unrelenting. She looked up into the devastated, infuriated blue eyes of John Cena. "God," she cried, struggling to get out of his grip, "I never should have come here. I should have stayed home!"

"Mari…"

"No… You don't get it, John…I just don't belong here; I'm stupid to think I could even try."

"Stop," he said, his voice fighting its demand to crack, "You belong here just as much as anybody else."

"Where's Torrie?"

"She's getting Shane McMahon to come in here and take a look at this. Mari, what happened?

"I don't know!" she snapped. Everything felt so surreal; her heart couldn't feel anymore broken. "I just want to go home." Her Tiger Maple had been her child; it had been her entire world, her escape from reality. "They burned my audition composition…" She disentangled herself from John's arms and attempted to stand on her shaky legs. Making her way to her feet, she stalked into the main area, where Shane and Torrie were standing, staring at the carnage. Shane's enormous brown eyes locked onto Marianne, who looked away and disappeared out of the Divas locker room, promising never to look back. Who needed the WWE? As much as she loved her cousin, the only thing she knew at the moment was that it was the biggest mistake of her life to have ever thought about spending a summer with her.

The real stab in the heart was that she knew she could never land a man like John Cena. And she felt stupid for even thinking it.

By midnight, Mari was back on a plane, headed for her home, drinking a gin and tonic she had received from a stewardess to calm her nerves. She had to find a new guitar, though it felt sacrilegious to her to replace Tiger Maple. Her eyes welled up as her head replayed the image of her pride and joy in shambles on the floor.

She had left quickly; Torrie and John hadn't caught up with her before she had escaped the arena. A huge part of her wanted to get her hands on Candice Michelle, who she knew was behind what had happened. Marianne felt her blood bubble to dizzying proportions just thinking about the GoDaddy Diva. She took a big sip of her drink.

There would be no showing Lilian her work next week; she knew she had to start from scratch. She wouldn't be seeing anybody from the World Wrestling Entertainment again. The last two months of her life had been hell; and she had learned from the entire experience that inside the world of the athletes and bikini models was not where she belonged.

The streaks in her hair wasn't her; the tight fitting clothing with the bell-bottomed jeans didn't reflect who she was as a person. In the past two months, Marianne realized that she had sacrificed everything that she was to appease the WWE image, to appease what her cousin wanted her to be. And she didn't plan on doing it anymore. She was more than happy to go home and get back to normal; to lose herself inside of her hooded sweatshirts that were three sizes too big.

Gone was the wannabe Diva that Torrie wanted her to be, and long gone was the optimistic musician that made bouncy, fun rock music. What she had seen diminished her faith in humanity. At the moment, she barely felt human, and there was no way that a good night's sleep was going to cure it.


	17. Chapter 17

**Epilogue**

The October sun cast a comfortable warmth that contrasted with the autumn breeze as Marianne left work on a late Friday afternoon. It had been a year since she had left WWE on the worst possible terms, never looking back and never going back. Over a year since she had learned a valuable lesson about what being true to oneself really meant. Unfortunately, the entire situation had strained her relationship with Torrie something awful, with the two of them rarely talking and avoiding each other's phone calls. It killed Marianne; all she had wanted to do was help, and everything had just become such a mess.

It had also been eleven months since her audition had been a complete and utter disaster and ten months since she walked out of her previous school and relocated halfway across the east coast with what she earned from being a featured guest on John's album. Things had fallen apart for her, but after the abuse Candice and Victoria had inflicted on her, Marianne had more or less abandoned everything that defined her as a person and settled in for a quiet life. She didn't particularly care for it, but she was contented to fly under the radar. It's what kept everyone away from her. Kept the backstabbers at bay.

When she had landed home after her precious Tiger Maple had been smashed into pieces, the first thing Marianne did was remove the streaks in her hair with a box of L'Oreal hair dye. The clothing Torrie had bought her to "Diva" her out had been thrown into a big box and taken to the Salvation Army. She was more than happy to spend her days in baggy sweatpants, enormous hooded sweatshirts and bell bottomed jeans anyways. Never again would she let anyone decide what she should look like.

Her relationship with Torrie was deteriorating rapidly under the strain, even though Candice and Victoria would later kick Torrie out of their clique. Torrie couldn't grasp why Marianne would just up and leave everything. She didn't understand, and Marianne didn't expect that she would. She didn't expect her to, since Torrie had always been a blonde, pretty model who hadn't suffered a day of hazing in her life.

From what Marianne's mother had told her, Torrie was now dating an ex-WWE wrestler who had wrestled with a group called the Spirit Squad. Marianne only nodded, spoke vague words of encouragement and went about her meager existence, working full time as a receptionist while her new ruby red guitar sat collecting dust in her bedroom closet. She hadn't played since she had failed her audition. Unable to concentrate, with a guitar that didn't want to stay tuned for her, she had more or less made a laughingstock of herself. Within a month, she had opted to just quit and move across the country.

Everyone tried to call her, tried to talk her into coming back to WWE, begging to make it up to her, but Marianne had no interest in reliving the abuse or the trauma. The answering machine always got it before it was promptly deleted. She never answered the phone. Nothing felt right to her anymore, and the more she thought about it, about the fact that it was all Candice and Victoria's fault that she was in such emotional turmoil, the more it enraged her, and the less it made her want to even leave her house. She had lost faith in humanity, trusted nobody.

Life had chugged on, and as the days passed by, she began to forget everything more and more. Her music had been ignored, her love and social life were non-existent. All she did was work and stay at home. She contemplated getting a cat, but nothing was really coming of it, even though she was tossing names around in her head.

As she slid into her white Volkswagen Beetle, she was greeted with her cell phone ringing. It was her co-worker Abby Ashton. With a deep sigh, she flipped open the phone. "Yeah?"

"Mari, what are you up to tonight?" she asked.

"Not sure. Why?"

"Well, Megan, Chad and I are going out for dinner, and Chad is totally bringing Van. You should come out with us; you know Van wants to get a shot at you." Marianne rolled her eyes; she had met him a few times, and all she had really seen was a pretentious snob. A tool, even. But everybody had an idea in her head that she needed a man to shake her out of her funk. She didn't want one; she just wanted to be left alone.

"I don't know," Marianne answered. "Let me see how my night is shaping up. I'll get back to you before six." Abby sighed.

"Fine. If you don't phone by six, I'm coming to get you."

"Okay. I can live with that." She hung up the phone and drove back to her little cottage-styled house on the outskirts of Redding, California, mentally trying to find an excuse to get out of dinner.

A long driveway that stretched out for miles to a small, comfortable house guarded with fence, it was the perfect choice for her. Sure, it was a bit expensive, but she was making decent money as a legal receptionist. Plus, there would be royalties from the album whenever it came out, in the event she was ever in a pinch. But she doubted that; she never really did anything or spent lavishly. She was more than content to just hide out in the edge of town, making periodic appearances to go to work or buy some groceries.

Redding, California was a nice town that Marianne had visited infrequently since she was a child, since she had a deceased aunt who had lived here on her mother's side. Thinking of nice places to move to, Redding was a place that had only brought her positive memories.

Opening the gate, she drove through, allowing it to close up behind her. Out back, she had a beautiful garden of primroses, daffodils and sunflowers, with a stunning view that overlooked a lake. She had set up deck furniture outside to enjoy tea in the mornings staring out at the lake, while she attempted to get inspired to write again. That wasn't working out too well, either; she was blocked in every creative facet.

Her eyes narrowed when she spotted a classic yellow muscle car parked in her enormous driveway. She didn't recognize the car; who was here? A part of her wondered if Abby had sent Van over to talk her into hanging out for the night. He seemed like the type of tool to drive a muscle car. Stopping her car beside it, she climbed out of the car and made her way over to it, examining it. A yellow 1957 Chevrolet. She thought about her father, who would have left a pile of drool on the hood if he had been there to see it.

She stared inside the driver's window, though there was nobody in the car. The interior was white with a canary yellow dashboard and chain link wheel. There was nothing to give away the identity of the driver. Knowing full well that whomever was here wouldn't just abandon their car or break in, she moved around the property, towards the backyard. Her breath caught when she captured a glimpse of John, standing with his back to her, staring out at the lake.

"John?" she choked out. He turned to her, a grin on his face. He hadn't changed at all. He was dressed in a black and white Mitchell & Ness jersey with jeans and runners, an old school Word Life hat on his head. A smirk crossed his features.

"Beautiful view you have from back here," he informed her, turning his back to stare out at the water. "I'm almost jealous. Sort of, but not really."

Marianne ignored his attempt at icebreaking humor. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"I, uh, made Torrie finally fess up and tell me. You're not going to throw me out of here, are you? It's taken me like six months to not only get the time off to come here, but to get the courage to do it, too. I was starting to worry I was at the wrong house."

"I would never throw you off of my property." She looked back towards the door. "Would you like to come in? I don't mean to rush you, but these shoes are killing my feet." He nodded and she unlocked the back door, entering the house. John whistled at the beautiful neutral set up she had in the living room. "Take a seat. Would you like some tea, coffee, anything?"

"Are you having anything?"

"I have a cup of lemon green tea everyday when I get home from work. Kind of in a routine," she confessed. He nodded.

"I'll go for a cup of lemon green tea." She kicked off her shoes and put on a kettle.

"Why'd you leave, Mari?" he asked. "Why haven't you answered my calls?"

"You know why I left, John."

"Torrie told me that your audition was a disaster." He stood to his feet and leaned over the island counter to stare into her setting up mugs and sugar. "How did that happen? You worked so hard."

"Well, I couldn't quite recapture what I had after my composition was left a pile of ashes."

"But this was so important to you…You seemed to know so much without the compositions…"

"I don't know anything, John." She bit her lower lip. "I don't play anymore."

"What?" His eyes widened. It was the worst possible thing he could have heard her say. "No; Mari, that was your entire life." He stared at her in astonishment. "I never had you pegged as somebody who would cave to girls like Candice, girls like Victoria. You seemed so much stronger than that."

"Well, you know different now, don't you?"

"Mari, don't be like this."

"What do you want me to say, John? I was only there to try and help Torrie through her divorce. I didn't want to do anything but help her, and stay focused on my school work. I didn't want to do albums, to change myself to appease everyone. And I did. And it was the biggest mistake of my life because at the end of the day, no matter how tight my clothes were, or how many streaks were in my hair, I still didn't _belong_." She shook her head. "I was stupid to think I could even try."

"I didn't want you to compete with them, but I damn sure didn't want them to drive you out, either. You were the biggest breath of fresh air backstage; I've missed you so much."

She stared into his eyes; beautiful blue. It seemed like he was sincere. Not that she doubted his sincerity. She poured the water and let it steep. "I did what I could to handle it, but I just couldn't. Not after the assaults, not after what they did to my Tiger Maple. What do you want from me, John?" she asked, her eyes tearing up. A soft smile crossed his face.

"You."

A small jolt crossed through her body; everything in that moment felt so surreal. "John…"

"Mari, you can't run away now. Look, I'm sorry you had to deal with what you had to. And if I could have protected you better, I would have. What they did to you wasn't right, and it kills me to know you just gave up because a few things went wrong. You were one of the most talented musicians I have ever had the pleasure of working with. You can't give up, Mari."

She felt as though the air had been taken out of her. Her hands shook; John covered her hands with his. "John…"

"No arguments. Mari, the album dropped last month. I want to do a bit of a tour, and I want you there."

"I can't…" she answered. "Never mind Tiger Maple getting smashed to bits, I'm just so rusty now…I haven't played in so long."

"I'll give you a month to pick it up, Mari. I need you on this tour. Marc needs you. Chaos and Order need you. But I need you more," he added quickly, prompting a soft smile to tug at her lips.

"I can try," she finally said. "I can't promise anything. The new guitar I bought just doesn't feel right."

"Come with me," he said, walking towards the front door. Baffled, she followed him outside in her bare feet, making her way to his car. "Like the rental car?" he asked. She nodded. Cutting his words short, he made his way to the trunk and opened it up, pulling out a guitar case. Her guitar case that she had left behind when Candice and Victoria had defaced it. The angry words were gone, though in her head they still remained in some facet. He handed it to her.

"Open it."

She leaned it up against her car and flipped open the latches. When it swung open, she was stunned to find a beautiful blue Tiger Maple guitar, the exact same as her old one. The tears spilled over, down her cheeks. John took a step behind her.

"You don't have any idea how hard it was to find another guitar _exactly_ like your old guitar. I know a few people, had them put feelers out. That's actually why I'm out here; I found it out in Sacramento, but when Torrie told me you were here, I just had to drive out and give it to you."

Marianne was speechless, her fingers running along the guitar strings. "John…"

"I know it doesn't replace it, or make you forget what happened, but I just had to do this for you."

"Thank you," she whispered, running her fingers along its slender neck as the tears began to cloud her vision. She thought about her original Tiger Maple, smashed in pieces in the Divas locker room. She took it out of the case and began to tinker with some of the strings. Everything felt natural. It surprised her how easily her fingers moved along the frets. She looked up at John, a soft smile crossing her features. He smiled back at her; sure, things had been difficult for her in the WWE, and though things had been a bit rough since she had left, he knew that he was more than willing to help her through and help her get her foot in the door musically. Because he wanted to, because she deserved it.

Because she was worth it.


End file.
